DA Lodged for Significant Black Hill Project

BY JARROD MELMETH

New subdivision plans for two industrial estates at Black Hill have been lodged with Newcastle City Council and are hoped to drive development in the Lower Hunter.

The two parcels of land, with a combined area of almost 400 hectares, are owned by Central Coast company, The Stevens Group and the Catholic Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle.

The lodgement of the development application follows protest from surrounding residents who believe the proposal will have day-to-day impacts such as visual, traffic and habitat loss as well as posing a threat to the rural and recreational nature and character of the Black Hill area.

Stevens Group Director, Brett Harrod said the company is committed to ensuring environmental standards are met.

"If you look at any of our projects, we take a great deal of time, effort and energy to ensure that everything that we do is compliant with all of the codes.

"We also have an underlying philosophy in all of our projects that our sites and developments are something that we can be proud of," Mr Harrod said.

State Member for Wallsend, Sonia Hornery said while she welcomes the economic advantages the development will bring to the region, State and Federal governments must ensure the appropriate infrastructure is in place before proceeding.

Fire Update: Thursday 14th September

BY JESSICA ROUSE

Cooler conditions and an overnight southerly change have helped firies get the upper hand on fires burning in the Hunter.

The fire near Richmond Vale in bushland around Leggetts Drive is at an Advice Level after already burning through 920 hectares since it broke containment lines yesterday.

The other fire which was causing concern at Browns Road, Black Hill is also at Advice Level this afternoon and it has burnt through 36 hectares of bushland west of the M1 .

The plan today was to strengthen the containment lines of the fire at Richmond Vale in a bid to completely contain the blaze before winds sweep through the area later this afternoon.

The advice is to keep monitoring the situation in case anything changes.

Meanwhile, volunteers at the Richmond Vale Railway Museum are counting the cost after the fire caused significant damage when it broke containment lines. It's feared the damage bill could be nearly $1 million.

Chairman of the museum Peter Meadows says the damage bill is unthinkable.

"There's three, what were operational stainless steel passenger cars, are now burnt out shells, our number one bridge is damaged. We've got hundreds and hundreds of sleepers that are burnt out and that's a considerable cost when you consider a sleeper is about $100 each or a bit more, so that's where we're at."

For all the latest updates on the fires around the Hunter head to: https://www.rfs.nsw.gov.au/fire-information/fires-near-me

Leggetts Drive yesterday afternoon. Image MJF Productions.